No. 163, 26 August 1993

Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty, Inc.
RUSSIA
GOVERNMENT TO OVERRULE PARLIAMENT ON BUDGET? AT THE CABINET MEETING
ON 25-AUGUST, FINANCE MINISTER BORIS FEDOROV PROPOSED THAT THE
GOVERNMENT ADOPT A BUDGET FOR 1993 WITHOUT PARLIAMENTARY APPROVAL
AND TAKE CONTROL OF THE RUSSIAN CENTRAL BANK FOR A SIX-MONTH
PERIOD, ACCORDING TO REUTERS CITING POSTFACTUM. With nearly two-thirds
of the budget year already past, government and parliament have
been deadlocked on virtually all major items of revenue and expenditure
in the budget. It was not clear whether Fedorov's proposal was
adopted. Parliament is expected to debate the budget again on
27 August. -Keith Bush
OBSERVERS SUGGEST YELTSIN'S IMPEACHMENT IMMINENT. Two Russian
newspapers, Nezavisimaya gazeta and Kommersant-daily, published
articles on 25-August suggesting that an extraordinary session
of the Congress of People's Deputies will be called in the near
future to impeach President Boris Yeltsin if he refuses to pass
the budget law after its second reading in parliament on 27 August.
According to the constitution, the president must sign a bill
after having returned it once to parliament, even if the parliament
refuses to take account of his objections to it. Yeltsin has
stated that he will never sign the budget law in its current
form. Another pretext for impeachment, according to Nezavisimaya
gazeta, could be the anticipated presidential decree establishing
the Federation Council, but, the paper noted, the Constitutional
Court, whose participation is essential in the impeachment procedure,
is more likely to rule against Yeltsin on the budget issue. -Wendy
Slater
POCHINOK VIEWS BUDGET BATTLE. Aleksandr Pochinok, head of the
Parliament's budget commission, gave his assessment of Yeltsin's
chances for scaling down the 22.4-trillion-ruble deficit currently
included in the parliament's 1993 budget law to correspondents
from ITAR-TASS and Kommersant-Daily on 25 August. Although expressing
optimism that a compromise could be reached, he criticized Yeltsin
for the lack of concrete proposals on how to significantly decrease
the size of the deficit. Pochinok, who was called from vacation
to help resolve the budget struggle, was vague about how dangerous
he himself thought the parliament's budget was. ITAR-TASS quotes
Pochinok as describing Yeltsin's concerns about the size of the
deficit as justified. However, according to Kommersant-Daily,
the commission head is not worried that the Parliament's version
would worsen the country's financial health because, in his opinion,
the tax revenue estimates are too low. -Erik Whitlock
GLAZYEV'S RESIGNATION REFUSED. The cabinet on 25 August refused
to accept the resignation of Foreign Economic Relations Minister
Sergei Glazyev, which he had tendered on 21 August, AFP reported.
He was, however, severely reprimanded for what the anti-corruption
commission called "a series of major flaws and malpractice in
his ministry's work." Glazyev was also rebuked for making what
the cabinet regarded as "improper statements" in the media and
elsewhere about his colleagues. The minister's submission of
his resignation had occasioned considerable protest and support
for his retention on the part of the media and business organizations.
-Keith Bush
FOUNDATION REBUFFS CHARGES AGAINST RUTSKOI. Aleksandr Korovnikov,
the president of the "Revival" foundation, held a news conference
on 25-August at which he rebuffed the charges of embezzlement
against the foundation and its second head, Vice-President Aleksandr
Rutskoi. The charges had been made the day before by Andrei Makarov,
chairman of the Presidential Commission on Corruption, in an
interview with Ostankino television. Korovnikov said that all
accusations against Rutskoi were false "from the beginning to
the end," and alleged that Rutskoi's signature on a Swiss bank
account, which had been produced by Makarov, was a forgery. Korovnikov
said that all of the alleged wrong-doings of "Revival" had been
committed either in 1990-91, i.e., during Yeltsin's tenure as
the foundation's first president, or with the president's approval.
Korovnikov went even as far as to say that the charges against
the foundation were a conspiracy coming from corrupt elements
in Yeltsin's immediate entourage against Yeltsin himself. -Julia
Wishnevsky
DEMOCRATS FIGHT FOR EARLY PARLIAMENTARY ELECTIONS. The bloc "Russia's
Choice", which unites democrats, favors early parliamentary elections
to be held in November or December 1993. Lev Ponomarev, co-leader
of the Democratic Russia Movement, told ITAR-TASS on 25 August
that the next Congress of People's Deputies should adopt a provisional
constitutional act and a new electoral law to provide for early
elections. He said that democratic organizations should simultaneously
collect signatures for holding a referendum on new elections
in case the Congress rejects early elections. He further stated
that if the Congress decides against holding a referendum, the
president could order elections by issuing a special decree.
-Alexander Rahr
COMMUNIST PARTY CALLS FOR UNITY. The presidium of the Central
Executive Committee (CEC) of the Communist Party of the Russian
Federation (CP-RF) said at a news conference on 25 August, reported
by ITAR-TASS, that a "revived and united communist party" was
being formed that would "unite communist-statists . . . who consider
their main aim the preservation of Russia's unity and the gradual
recreation of a union state." The CP-RF currently unites most
but not all of the communist parties formed after the disintegration
of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union (CPSU), and recently
claimed a membership of 600,000. It was not clear whether it
envisaged the recreation of the Soviet communist party. Gennadii
Zyuganov, chairman of the CEC, said that conditions were not
yet ripe for fresh elections, and that "only the radical democrats
needed them." -Wendy Slater
NUMERICALLY SMALL PEOPLES WANT GREATER PROTECTION OF THEIR INTERESTS.
Evdokiya Gaer, Secretary General of the Association of Numerically
Small Peoples of Russia, told ITAR-TASS on 25 August that the
association had been forced to conclude that the indigenous inhabitants
of the North, Siberia, and the Far East had suffered most from
the reforms in Russia. She complained that legislation defining
the status of their territories had not been adopted, and that
Russia had still not ratified the ILO convention on indigenous
peoples. Gaer said that she was the only representative of these
peoples at Yeltsin's constitutional conference and, though she
had persuaded her working group to include in the draft constitution
mention of their land rights, which are essential to their survival,
she was not sure that the other participants of the conference
would support this amendment. -Ann Sheehy
NO MONEY FOR MIG-29M. Articles appearing subsequently in Krasnaya
zvezda (17 and 20-August) indicate that the new MiG fighter jet,
the production of which was said in a 16-August "Vesti" report
to have been discontinued (see the 17 August Daily Report), was
actually the MiG-29M. Considered by many to be the finest light
jet fighter in the world, the aircraft has apparently fallen
victim to the financial difficulties of its maker, the Mikoyan
production complex. Krasnaya zvezda reports that the plane has
been fully tested and that production awaits only the necessary
financing. -Stephen Foye
TRANSCAUCASIA AND CENTRAL ASIA
ARMENIAN, TURKMEN PRESIDENTS SIGN BILATERAL AGREEMENTS. The Presidents
of Armenia and Turkmenistan, Levon Ter-Petrossyan and Saparmurad
Niyazov, signed a friendship treaty and a series of bilateral
agreements on economic and cultural cooperation, including one
on resuming desperately needed supplies of gas to Armenia, during
talks in Ashgabat on 24-August, ITAR-TASS reported. -Liz Fuller
CAR BOMB EXPLODES NEAR THE HOME OF THE FORMER UZBEK VICE PRESIDENT.
A car bomb exploded near the Tashkent home of the ex-vice president
of Uzbekistan, Shukrulla Mirsaidov, RFE/RL learned on 25 August.
Mirsaidov who was not injured in the incident, told RFE/RL by
telephone that he believes Uzbek authorities were responsible
for the bombing. He alleged that his home had been under surveillance
by Uzbek police authorities for some time. The Uzbek foreign
ministry later told RFE/RL that it had no information on the
incident. The US Embassy in Tashkent verified that a bombing
indeed took place, but said it had no other details. Mirsaidov,
who is one of the leaders of the Democratic Movement Forum, had
been tried and convicted for corruption on 18 June and immediately
amnestied. -Yalcin Tokgozoglu
JAPAN PLANS A PIPELINE THROUGH CENTRAL ASIA, CHINA. Japan wants
to build a mammoth oil and gas pipeline to bring Central Asian
petroleum products to the Pacific rim countries, Reuters reported
on 22-August. Japan will ask Turkmenistan, Uzbekistan and Kazakhstan
to participate in this project which involves constructing a
6,000 km. (3,700 miles) pipeline stretching from Central Asia
to the Pacific through China. The Japanese Trade Ministry will
begin conducting a feasibility study in the near future, before
forming a promotional organization along with Japan National
Oil Corp and leading trading establishments. This project signals
Japan's deepening interest in the oil industry in the region
where it is already helping to build a refinery in Bukhara. -Yalcin
Tokgozoglu
CIS
UKRAINIAN DIPLOMAT ON RELATIONS WITH RUSSIA. On 25 August Ukrainian
TV broadcast an interview with Oleh Bai, a counselor and envoy
of the Ukrainian embassy in Moscow. Commenting on the state of
Ukrainian-Russian relations, he said that the old "mentality
of the Soviet Union" still cast a shadow over them, and that
in Moscow the "old attitude" towards "what they stubbornly continue
to refer to . . . as the capitals of the former Union republics"
remains. Bai said that he is frequently asked in Moscow, "When
will you [Ukraine] return." It was imperative, he maintained,
that Ukrainian-Russian relations be steered along the course
of their "stabilization" based on mutual respect for each other
as independent states. Bai warned, however, that Ukraine should
carefully follow political developments in Russia because in
his view the tensions in Russia were growing and would sooner
or later peak. "We have to be very attentive," he said, "[and]
very cautious. . . ." -Bohdan Nahaylo
MOROZOV PROPOSES REVIEWING CONVICTED SERVICEMENS' CASES WITH
RUSSIA. The Ukrainian Minister of Defense, Konstantin Morozov,
proposed to his Russian counterpart, Pavel Grachev, that they
ask the supreme courts of their countries to review cases of
servicemen sentenced under Soviet law, Ukrainian TV reported
on 25 August. An RFE/RL correspondent reported that no exchange
of prisoners with Russia was being proposed, the aim was rather
to win the release of prisoners. The immediate reason for proposing
the review is the case of three Ukrainian officers who served
in Germany and were convicted of treason and espionage. A statement
by the press service of the Ukrainian Ministry of Defense said
that while the crimes some servicemen committed may have been
harmful to the national interests of the Soviet Union, under
the current situation they would not be considered a threat to
the national interests of Ukraine or Russia. Furthermore, some
convictions were fabricated for political reasons. -Ustina Markus
CENTRAL AND EASTERN EUROPE
YELTSIN: NO OBJECTIONS TO POLISH NATO MEMBERSHIP. "In the new
Russian-Polish relations, there is no place for hegemony and
diktat, the psychology of a 'big brother' and a 'little brother,'"
Russian President Boris Yeltsin told a press conference in Warsaw
at the close of his official visit to Poland on 25 August. The
crowning achievement of the visit was Yeltsin's assurance that
Russia does not object to eventual Polish membership in NATO
(apparently the result of hard bargaining on the Polish side).
The joint declaration signed by Yeltsin and Polish President
Lech Walesa says that membership in NATO is a decision for a
sovereign Poland and does not conflict with Russia's interests.
Polish officials used this assurance as an occasion to press
NATO for a formal offer of membership. In comments broadcast
on Polish TV, Polish Foreign Minister Krzysztof Skubiszewski
said that the alliance "must open itself to new members." Presidential
spokesman Andrzej Drzycimski argued that "now the West has no
argument to say no to Poland," the New York Times reports on
26-August. Yeltsin also announced that the remaining Russian
troops in Poland will depart by October 1993, three months ahead
of schedule. Yeltsin said he hopes this will be a "farewell of
friends." -Louisa Vinton
TRADE AGREEMENTS AND SYMBOLIC GESTURES. During Yeltsin's visit,
the two presidents signed a new trade treaty that replaces the
outdated Soviet-Polish agreement from 1945. The treaty grants
both sides most-favored-nation status. An agreement on the construction
of a natural gas pipeline stretching from Russia to Germany was
also signed. The cost of the Polish segment is estimated at $3.5
billion, PAP reports. Polish Prime Minister Hanna Suchocka has
called it the "investment of the century." Several other cooperation
agreements were signed, but the issues of mutual debt and war
cemeteries and monuments remain unresolved. The rapport between
Yeltsin and Walesa was clearly good, and the two presidents pledged
to resolve unsettled issues quickly. In a gesture of reconciliation
likely to stir Polish gratitude, Yeltsin laid a wreath at the
monument to the victims of the Katyn massacre in Warsaw's Powazki
Cemetery. He met with representatives of the Federation of Katyn
Families and reportedly asked for forgiveness for the murder
of 21,000 Polish officers at Soviet hands in 1940. Yeltsin also
turned over documents reflecting Soviet party deliberations on
Poland during the period preceding the imposition of martial
law in 1981. -Louisa Vinton
HAVEL, YELTSIN TO SIGN FRIENDSHIP TREATY. Reversing its earlier
stance, the Czech government recommended on 25 August that President
Vaclav Havel sign a treaty on friendly relations and cooperation
during Russian President Yeltsin's short visit to Prague on the
26th. Previously Czech officials had said that the treaty is
unlikely to be signed because negotiators are still working on
it and because the Czech government prefers it to be signed during
an official visit. Prime Minister Vaclav Klaus told the media
that the treaty closely resembles one signed between former Czechoslovakia
and Russia in 1992. Foreign Minister Josef Zieleniec rejected
media allegations that the government changed its stance under
pressure from Russian diplomats. However, he admitted that "the
Russian side showed great interest in signing the treaty during
Yeltsin's visit" and that it is important "to make a gesture
of support for democratic forces in Russia." Other agreements
to be signed during Yeltsin's visit are one on trade, economic,
and scientific relations and one on deliveries of goods in 1993.
An agreement on cooperation between the Czech and the Russian
armies is to be signed at a later date. -Jiri Pehe
CONVOY REACHES MOSTAR. The US Air Force dropped 37 tons of relief
aid to besieged Muslims in Mostar on 26 August, while a UN convoy
entered the city and distributed 200 tons of food and 10 tons
of medicine, international agencies report. Spanish peacekeepers
accompanied the convoy, which was blocked by Croat civilians
for several hours on 25-August. The Croat forces, who had been
blocking the convoy, let it through, but then, after an exchange
of war dead at the Mostar airport, Croat civilians blocked it.
Finally, Muslim civilians sought to prevent the relief vehicles
from leaving the city, provoking angry exchanges between UN officials
and local leaders, who argued that the presence of the UN offers
the only protection for the Muslims. Elsewhere, the French captain
of a UN peacekeeping unit was seriously wounded on Mt. Igman
overlooking Sarajevo during an attack of Bosnian forces, who
later said it was an error. -Fabian Schmidt
CROATIAN DILEMMAS OVER BOSNIA. President Franjo Tudjman's support
for joining the Serbs in what amounts to a partition of the neighboring
republic has apparently been based on his assumption that he
and Serbian President Slobodan Milosevic could then work out
a general solution for Serb-Croat differences. The key to this
would be Belgrade's support of Zagreb at the expense of the Krajina
Serb rebels, but the 24 August Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung
warns that this looks like wishful thinking on Tudjman's part
since Serb cooperation has not been forthcoming. Vecernji list
of 26-August goes on to quote Slavko Degoricija, Croatia's chief
negotiator with the rebels, as saying that not only are the Serbs
not showing any interest in a settlement, but that they are using
the possible approach of peace in Bosnia to beef up their forces
in Krajina. He notes the recent arrival in rebel-held territory
from Bosnia of 6-7,000 Serbian troops and officers, mainly from
Serbia proper. Vjesnik, moreover, reports that a group of 10-Croatian
opposition parties have condemned the Geneva plan as unfair to
Croats and Muslims and as rewarding "Serbian aggression." Finally,
on 24 August Berlin's Die Tageszeitung carries a bleak report
on the situation of the nearly 200,000 Croat civilians in central
Bosnia who are cut off by Muslim troops. -Patrick Moore
WORLD COURT STARTS HEARINGS ON BOSNIA. The World Court in the
Hague began hearing accusations by Bosnia that rump Yugoslavia
has continued to back a campaign of genocide. Lawyers for Bosnia
also asked the court to declare the arms embargo against Bosnia
is illegal. Bosnian UN ambassador Mohamed Sacirbey said the international
community has failed to find the will to stop Serbian aggression.
He charged some members of the EC and the UN Security Council
of having used their influence to maintain an "unjust and genocide-abetting
arms embargo." He added that the Geneva peace plan for Bosnia
was forcing the Bosnian government to negotiate with the perpetrators
of genocide, international agencies report on 26 August. Elsewhere,
mediator Lord Owen urged the West to support the plan. Owen said
that Western support is needed before the Muslims will agree
to it. Finally, the BBC reports that UN officials say there is
no money to fund the proposed UN operation to bring the Geneva
plan into effect. -Fabian Schmidt
"SIR RADOVAN OF SARAJEVO," IS HOW BORBA OF 26-AUGUST DESCRIBES
BOSNIAN SERB LEADER RADOVAN KARADZIC, WHO HAS JUST BEEN MADE
A KNIGHT IN THE PRIVATE ORDER OF ST. Dionysius, which is supposedly
close to the "Greco-Romanian Orthodox Church." The article goes
on to say, however, that Borba's investigators found this to
be "an unknown order of an unknown church," and adds that, in
any event, it is more than ironic that a knighthood for "promoting
peace in the world" should actually go to the "man who killed
Sarajevo." The Sueddeutsche Zeitung notes that Karadzic was honored
for his "services and humanitarian achievements" as an "exemplary
son of our Lord Jesus Christ and of the Orthodox faith," who
earned his knighthood as a "moral and visible reward for virtues
that have been respected and admired through the ages." Borba
suggests that a Serbian-American businessman was instrumental
in obtaining the honor for Karadzic, a professional psychiatrist
whose recent laurels also include a Montenegrin prize for his
poetry. -Patrick Moore
RULING SLOVAK PARTY WILL CONTINUE POLITICAL TALKS. In a 25 August
press conference of the Movement for a Democratic Slovakia, Deputy
Chairman Roman Zelenay said his party will continue to hold political
talks with parliamentary and extraparliamentary parties. The
first meeting will be with the Party of the Democratic Left,
although Zelenay said the MDS "does not intend to create a coalition
with the PDL," TASR reports. Concerning a coalition with the
Slovak National Party, the chairman of the MDS deputies' club,
Ivan Laluha, said a cooperation agreement with the party at the
deputy level can be made "even if the [formal] coalition agreement
with the SNP fails." In reference to the cabinet's proposal to
dismiss ambassador to Austria Rudolf Filkus, Zelenay said "it
is the right of the government." -Sharon Fisher
HUNGARIAN PARTIES TO TRY TO COOPERATE. At the initiative of the
Hungarian Socialist Party, representatives of 16 parties met
on 25 August to discuss the principles of "an honest and inexpensive
campaign" for next year's national elections, MTI reports. The
meeting was not well attended, and both the Hungarian Democratic
Forum and the Christian Democratic Peoples' Party refused to
attend. The meetings to work out a mutually acceptable code of
ethics are expected to continue. On the same day, the interim
head of the Party of Hungarian Justice and Life called on the
participants of a forum of populist national forces in Szarszo
to put their differences aside in the interest of the nation
and cooperate by forming a Christian-social election union. -Judith
Pataki
HUNGARIAN AIRLINE MECHANICS STRIKE. Since 6-p.m. on 25 August
some 40 mechanics at MALEV, the state airlines, are on strike,
MTI and Radio Budapest report. MALEV has offered its workers
a 22% increase for this year and a further 10% increase for each
of the next two years, which the mechanics refuse to accept.
The airline's main problem is its new agreement with the Lockheed
Corporation, which has not brought in the expected orders from
abroad. MALEV's profits are down and large pay increases are
impossible, company officials say. -Judith Pataki
ROMANIAN NATIONALISTS WARN ILIESCU OVER ROAD SIGNS. In a statement
broadcast by Radio Bucharest on 25 August the Party of Romanian
National Unity threatened to start moves to impeach President
Ion Iliescu and initiate a vote of no-confidence in the cabinet
in case the authorities go ahead with plans to make language
concessions to ethnic minorities. The government's Council for
Minorities decided last week to draft a law allowing bilingual
signs in minority areas. Nationalists say that the move would
mainly benefit ethnic Hungarians in Transylvania and the Banat,
whom they accuse of plotting to break away and join Hungary.
The PRNU, which describes the council's decision as "unconstitutional,"
reiterated charges against that body for allegedly seeking "to
trigger a civil war in Romania based on artificially created
ethnic conflicts." In a joint letter to Iliescu and Premier Nicolae
Vacaroiu, the Mures County branches of the PRNU, the Vatra Romaneasca
organization, and the Greater Romania Party said that "all Romanians
will vehemently protest" the adoption of bilingual signs and
the setting up of separate schools and faculties for the Hungarian
minority. -Dan Ionescu
RAU IN ROMANIA. Johannes Rau, Prime Minister of North Rhine-Westphalia
and a leading figure in Germany's Social-Democratic Party, paid
a two-day official visit to Romania. Radio Bucharest reported
that on 24 August in Timisoara Rau discussed cooperation with
local authorities, including assistance for modernizing hospitals
and orphanages in the Banat. That region still has a considerable
German minority, despite massive emigration in recent years.
On 25 August Rau was received in Bucharest by President Iliescu,
Premier Vacaroiu and Chamber of Deputies Chairman Adrian Nastase.
He also met leading figures in the opposition. With a turnover
of $1.3 billion a year, Germany is Romania's main trade partner.
North Rhine-Westphalia ranks first among the German states in
bilateral economic ties. -Dan Ionescu
FORMER QUEEN IOANNA VISITS BULGARIA. On 25-August Bulgaria's
former queen, Ioanna, arrived in Sofia for a ten-day visit after
being away from Bulgaria for 47 years, Reuters reports. Traveling
with her daughter, Princess Maria-Luisa, Ioanna will mark the
50th anniversary of the death of her husband, King Boris III
in 1943. On 28 August Ioanna will attend a memorial service for
Boris at the Rila Monastery, but a heart thought to be the king's
was buried a few days before her arrival so as not to cause unnecessary
political tensions. Ioanna, who stresses that she is visiting
privately, was nonetheless greeted at the airport by Orthodox
Church leaders and Sofia's mayor, Aleksandar Yanchulev. She is
also scheduled to meet President Zhelyu Zhelev. -Stan Markotich
UKRAINIAN PARLIAMENT MEETS ON REFERENDUM. Parliament convened
in a special session on 26-August to review its earlier decision,
made in the summer under pressure from a miners' strike, to hold
a referendum on 26 September on confidence in the parliament
and president. The session, which was broadcast live by Ukrainian
Radio, opened with a stormy debate about the political and economic
crisis in which the country finds itself. -Bohdan Nahaylo
LEBED BECOMING PROCONSUL? INTERVIEWED IN PRAVDA OF 24 AUGUST,
LT. Gen. Aleksandr Lebed, commander of Russia's 14th Army in
Moldova, claims to have been authorized to discharge some political
functions by his superiors in Moscow. "I have taken on, and strive
to rigorously fulfill, the roles of peacekeeper, diplomat, and
neutral party. I have asked [in Moscow] for some kind of diplomatic
confirmation, since I am simultaneously the commander, ambassador,
adviser-delegate, and military attache. This request has now
been granted," Lebed said. He went on to describe conditions
in his army as superior to those prevailing in Russia's armed
forces in general; praised the Transdniester Russians' attitude
toward his army as "extremely, extremely warm, the same as it
used to be toward the Soviet army"; and dismissed the army of
Moldova as "not worth a broken penny, it has got nothing to make
it a real army." -Vladimir Socor
RUSSIAN MILITARY WARNS BALTICS OF SHARPER CONFLICTS. A statement
to the press from the Riga-based command of Russia's Northwestern
Group of Forces warns the Baltic States of "serious consequences"
if individuals or groups [from the available Baltic media reports
of 24 August, it is not clear who was meant] try to settle accounts
with the Russian military. Claiming that extreme nationalist
forces in Lithuania are attempting to polarize the situation
there, the statement asserts that the army units stationed in
Lithuania have sufficient means to defend themselves and their
families and "to ensure the inviolability of the Russian state
border." -Dzintra Bungs
EC STATEMENT ON BALTIC TROOP WITHDRAWAL. The European Community
issued a statement urging Russia and the three Baltic States
not to link Russian troop withdrawal to any other issues, BNS
reported on 25 August. It noted that Lithuania would not benefit
from making unrealistic demands for compensation that would only
strengthen the position of hard-liners in Russia. At a press
conference on 26 August, broadcast live by Radio Lithuania, Parliament
Chairman Ceslovas Jursenas said that Lithuania cannot give up
its demands for compensations, since the people overwhelmingly
approved them in a referendum last year. Lithuania has, however,
not decided what tactics to use to gain them or even how much
money to ask for, he noted. -Saulius Girnius
SOME LITHUANIAN-RUSSIAN TALKS CONTINUING. At a press conference
on 25 August Virgilijus Bulovas, the head of the Lithuanian delegation
negotiating with Russia, said that he is optimistic that the
Russian troops will not remain long in Lithuania, Radio Lithuania
reports. He noted that although there would not be any formal
delegation talks soon, while the Russian delegation's head, Viktor
Isakov, will be on vacation for two weeks, working groups dealing
with military transit from Germany to Russia, pensions for retired
Russian servicemen, and trade cooperation are still meeting.
-Saulius Girnius
BALTIC FREE TRADE ACCORD INITIALED. Estonian, Latvian, and Lithuanian
foreign ministry officials initialed a tripartite free trade
agreement on 25 August, Baltic media reported. A Lithuanian Foreign
Ministry spokeswoman said that the treaty resembles accords signed
by the EFTA countries. -Dzintra Bungs
[As of 1200 CET] Compiled by Ustina Markus and Charles Trumbull
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